As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Numerous competing and wireless technologies and applications are available for mobile use. Devices and platforms enabled with multiple sets of these wireless technologies may not provide the best user experience in terms of target application performance. Wireless technologies that may be integrated into portable information handling systems (one example being notebook computers) or include Wi-Fi (802.11 based technologies), Bluetooth (BT), ultra-wide band (UWB), Cellular, wide area network (WAN), Mobile WiMax, DVB-H, RFID, GPS, others, etc. While mobility and wireless Internet access are becoming mainstream, several factors impacting system performance are the simultaneous operation of multiple wireless technologies, multiple spectrum overlaps, interference/co-existence, smaller form factors driving antenna size and designs, power and battery life performance tradeoffs, system performance tradeoffs and driver overhead, and high bandwidth applications. One challenge experienced by users is in optimizing performance attributes of wireless options relative to application use cases. A method is needed that dynamically models and adjusts performance of a system for mobile wireless use relative to other attributes of the system by abstracting user experience feature requirements.
Some information handling systems incorporate software-based wireless profile management, which focuses on wireless and location profiles to help a user switch between profiles and manage them for WiFi, Cellular, etc. and the like. For example, FIG. 1 shows a portion of a screen of the Dell Quickset location profiler 100. Dell Quickset location profiler is software-based wireless profile management tool that ships with Dell notebook computers. Adapter Switching 102 is a mobility setting 103 that provides options regarding wireless technologies that impact power and performance of a system. For example, user check boxes are provided for a user to select various modes of operation. One option allows wireless features to be disabled when a wired connection is detected. Other options may relate to modes that may be selected when the wired connection is terminated. For example, when a wired connection is terminated, the wireless features may be optionally automatically enabled. Another option, Enable Advanced Options 104, allows relative prioritization of WiFi 106 and Mobile Broadband 108. Thus, when using the Adapter Switching 102 option, a various modes relating to wired Ethernet, WiFi, and Mobile Broadband can be selected and the modes can include a prioritization of wireless standards.
Another current art method is Quickset Location and Mobility Management technology. A location profiler can be used to create and manage profiles for different places a user uses a computer, such as an office, home, or favorite coffee shop. A profile is created for a particular network. The network can be affiliated with a location, such as an office, home, or other locations. When the computer is moved from one place to another, a user can switch to a saved profile to change settings for the user's Internet browser, applications, wireless network connection standard, shared folders, and printers. When a user selects a location, its affiliated network is activated. A user can add a network profile to the user's location profile by adding a network profile name and network type, then selecting the manage network profiles option. User selections are made via a graphical user interface. A WiFi Manager and Mobile Broadband Manager are available once the wireless networks are configured using a wireless manager before adding them to the user's location profile. The user can create a location profile name and can lock in the profile. The user can then save the profile setting. The concept of Quickset Location and Mobility Management is targeted towards providing more control over location based settings and network transition rules. The location profiles allow configuration of browser, printer, VPN, firewall settings, and the like, for network connections. The mobility settings provide additional configuration of adapter switching and client manager software. While the current art Quickset features provide the user more control, they do not provide the user the necessary information to optimize and tailor the performance of their wireless interfaces. A method is needed to provide an application capable of showing and managing the performance for all wireless interfaces on a platform.